Colorado barrel racer Shali Lord explodes into the third barrel on her way to a 16.14-second time on Sunday afternoon’s round of rodeo action at the 2019 Elizabeth Stampede Rodeo in Elizabeth, CO. Lord’s time was just .01 seconds behind Amy Jo Reisdorfer’s and Brittany Pozzi-Tonozzi’s winning time of 16.13 seconds.
Probably not what Colorado bareback cowboy Casey Colletti did this past Saturday (April 13, 2019)…
Casey Colletti wasn’t in the lineup of competitors for the 2019 Rodeo All Star event held in Denver, CO over the weekend of April 12-13, 2019. But when one of the contestants couldn’t make it, rodeo organizers called Colletti at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday to see if he could drive up from Pueblo, CO and ride some bucking broncs against some of the best competition in the sport.
Forget chores and spring cleaning, Colletti grabbed his gear and arrived in time for the 2:30 p.m. afternoon rodeo. Not content to just show up, Colletti won the afternoon round with an 84-point ride to advance to Saturday night’s championship round where, you guessed it, he rode another bronc for 87 points to win the Saturday night round and move into a head to head match-up against three-time PRCA world champion Will Lowe for a chance at an extra $5,000.00 and the 2019 Rodeo All Star title.
“I’m just happy to be here,” said a smiling Colletti after winning the round on Saturday night and getting ready to ride against Will Lowe for the title. “Being able to go against three time world champion Will Lowe in a shoot out, head to head format. This is the kind of stuff we live for, you know what I mean?”
In the head to head round, Colletti beat his earlier scores with an 88-point ride on his third bucking bronc of the day. That’s right. Not one bucking bronc, which would send most people crawling to their chiropractor, but three bucking broncs in a single afternoon and evening. Even though his impressive 88 points in the head to head round fell short of Will Lowe’s stunning 90-point ride for the Rodeo All Star title, it is safe to say Colletti’s planned day off was a bit more productive than any of ours.
The championship round of rodeo at the 2014 National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colorado was full of action and enthusiastic fans in the stands (a near capacity crowd of 8,279). Here is my story and some photos from the event that have been published in The Fence Post magazine.
It appears the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (WNFR or NFR) may be leaving Las Vegas after 30 years and head to Osceola, FL. Multiple news reports discuss the possibility:
The NFR moved from Oklahoma City nearly 30 years ago to Las Vegas and many people thought it would never work. Now it might move to Florida and, again, many people think it won’t work. Florida is offering four million dollars more than the current Vegas contract. That extra four million means more money for the contestants, which is where it should go. It is estimated Vegas reaps about ninety million dollars over the ten-day event that draws between 150,000-200,000 people to the city. It’s no wonder Florida is making a serious run to be the future host.
Personally, I’ve never attended the NFR in Vegas because I’m leery of the underbelly of Vegas – organized crime, prostitution, gambling addiction, etc. I once turned down a good job offer because it would have required me to be in Vegas for a couple of weeks every year. Vegas can try all it wants to paint itself as “family friendly,” but even its motto and commercials of “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” contradicts that effort. It’s just a personal thing to not want to be there. I understand plenty of people enjoy Vegas and don’t see a downside to the city.
The thing is, I write for several magazines that would love to have stories and photos from the NFR, but I could never bring myself to go. If it does move out of Vegas, there’s a good chance I’ll finally attend and get those stories and photos their way!
Have a great day and don’t let your horse come home without ya!
